Mediaboss Marketing

Seventeen conservative Republican members of Congress10 of them in their first or second termsare bucking long-time party positions and the new occupant of the White House. They announced on Wednesday that theyre supporting a clear statement about the risks associated with climate change, as well as principles for howbest to fight it.

Called the Republican Climate Resolution by supporters, the statement by House members takes about 450 words to mention conservative thought on environmentalism, support for climate science, feared impacts, and a call for economically viable policy. They pledge in general terms to support study and mitigation measures, using our tradition of American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism.

Read more:To Protect Climate Money, Obama Stashed It Where Its Hard to Find

Its essentially the same thingthat was introduced in September 2015 by then-Representative Chris Gibsonof New York. Whats changed since then is that almost 200 nations agreed to work to bring climate change under control, America elected a Republican presidentDonald Trump, who seems determined not toand the challengeitself growscontinuously worse.

With 17 co-sponsors, the resolution is oceans away from the number of votes it needs to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Fortunately, its likelihood of passage is not what makes it interesting.

These bills are interestingin the waythat solar energy is, even though solar makes up 1 percent of U.S. power generation. Like solar power, Republican climate billsare noteworthynot because one is likely to pass anytime soon, but because massive external forcesmarkets, other governments, and climate change itselfmay eventually force it into the foreground.

The resolution is spearheaded by three Republican members of Congress: Elise Stefanik of New York, CarlosCurbelo of Florida, and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania.

The bills co-sponsors hail from parts of the country on the front lines of climate change; three represent southern Florida. Otherscomes from northern Nevada and central Utah, where mountain snowpack has declined in recent decades. And the district of Representative Mark Sanford, in eastern South Carolina, is seeing the rising sea level rise slowly eat away at its coastline.

Our founding fathers set up a political system that was to be reason-based, Sanford said on Tuesday. They didnt believe in alternative facts.

Curbelo represents Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, and part of Miami-Dade County. A leader in shapingthe new resolution, hes also co-founder of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group. The caucus, which has new members admitted in pairs, one Republican and one Democrat, was set up to explore climate policy. Eleven of its13 Republican members are co-sponsors of the new resolution (six representatives are co-sponsors but do not belong to the caucus, according to a roster maintained by the nonprofit Citizens Climate Lobby).

Curbelo said in a conference call that the most critical participants in climate discussionsincluding major oil companiesare all moving in the right direction.

Congress, specifically the House Republican Conference, has to catch up to all of them, Curbelo said. Thats what were trying to do here.

The most important business stories of the day.

Get Bloomberg's daily newsletter.

The bill is this month's contribution to Washingtons constant climate background hum. It follows February's splashy carbon tax-and-rebate announcement, developed by a groupcalledClimate Leadership Council and endorsedby three former Republican U.S. Treasury secretaries. That initiative, like todays, is premised on the idea that, as CLC founder Ted Halstead, put it, There is no issue in America today where there is a bigger gap between the GOP base and the GOP leadership.

Sanford, who served asSouth Carolinas governor from2003 to 2011, suggested that the future of climate resolutions or policies is up to voters. Theres been a level of energy that Ive never seen before in my time in politics, he said.

If that energy broadensbeyond the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act, issues such as climate change might rise to greater prominence. In the meantime, Sanford said theres enough science and enough resonant anecdotal evidence. I think its dangerous, he said.

See the original post here:
Republicans Break Ranks With Pledge to Fight Climate Change - Bloomberg